Method of managing E-UTRA function of user equipment and related wireless communication system

Abstract

In a wireless communication system, when a user equipment needs to deactivate its E-UTRA function due to a network related failure cause, a waiting period is set according to the mobility information of the user equipment. When the waiting period has elapsed after deactivating the E-UTRA function, the user equipment is configured to reactivate the E-UTRA function.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of managing an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) function of a user equipment (UE), comprising:
 the user equipment activating the E-UTRA function; 
 acquiring mobility information of the user equipment by measuring at least one of a UE mobility state, a UE velocity and a change in the UE mobility state during a specific period; 
 setting a waiting period according to the mobility information when determining that the E-UTRA function needs to be deactivated; 
 the user equipment deactivating the E-UTRA function; and 
 the user equipment reactivating the E-UTRA function when the waiting period has elapsed after deactivating the E-UTRA function, wherein:
 the waiting period is set to a first value when the mobility information corresponds to a high UE mobility state, a fast UE velocity or a large change in the UE mobility state; 
 the waiting period is set to a second value when the mobility information does not correspond to any of the high UE mobility state, the fast UE velocity and the large change in the UE mobility state; and 
 the first value is smaller than the second value. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 measuring a reference signal received power (RSRP) or a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) of a source base station and a target base station during the specific period; 
 performing a cell re-selection according to the RSPP or the RSRQ; and 
 determining that the mobility information corresponds to the high UE mobility state when the cell re-selection is executed more than a predetermined number of times during the specific period. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 measuring the UE velocity using a standalone global positioning system (GPS), a standalone global navigation satellite system (GNSS), an assisted GPS, an assisted GNSS, a location services (LCS) positioning, or a secure user plane location (SUPL) positioning; and 
 determining that the mobility information corresponds to the fast UE velocity when the UE velocity exceeds a predetermined value. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 measuring a change in the UE mobility state by determining if a system information block is received from a base station and by determining if a location area code has been changed; and 
 determining that the change in the UE mobility state corresponds to the large change in the UE mobility state when the system information block is received from the base station or the location area code has been changed. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , wherein the system information block includes a SIB19 or a SI-2Quater defined in a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) specification. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein it is determined that the E-UTRA function needs to be deactivated when the user equipment is only able to register to one of an evolved packet system (EPS) service and a non-evolved packet system (non-EPS) service after attempting to register to the EPS service and the non-EPS service. 
     
     
       7. A wireless communication system for managing an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) function, comprising:
 a network; and 
 a user equipment, comprising:
 a network connectivity unit configured to provide the E-UTRA function for registering to the network; 
 a computing unit configured to acquiring mobility information of the user equipment by measuring at least one of a UE mobility state, a UE velocity and a change in the UE mobility state during a specific period; 
 a memory unit configured to store the waiting period; and 
 a processing unit configured to:
 set the waiting period according to the mobility information; 
 determine if the E-UTRA function needs to be deactivated; 
 instruct the network connectivity unit to deactivate the E-UTRA function; and 
 instruct the network connectivity unit to reactivate the E-UTRA function when the waiting period has elapsed after deactivating the E-UTRA function,
 wherein: 
 the waiting period is set to a first value when the mobility information corresponds to a high UE mobility state, a fast UE velocity or a large change in the UE mobility state; 
 the waiting period is set to a second value when the mobility information does not correspond to any of the high UE mobility state, the fast UE velocity and the large change in the UE mobility state; and 
 the first value is smaller than the second value. 
 
 
 
 
     
     
       8. A method of managing an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) function of a user equipment (UE), comprising:
 the user equipment activating the E-UTRA function; 
 acquiring mobility information of the user equipment and setting a waiting period according to the mobility information when determining that the E-UTRA function needs to be deactivated; 
 the user equipment deactivating the E-UTRA function; and 
 the user equipment reactivating the E-UTRA function when the waiting period has elapsed after deactivating the E-UTRA function, wherein it is determined that the E-UTRA function needs to be deactivated when the user equipment is only able to register to one of an evolved packet system (EPS) service and a non-evolved packet system (non-EPS) service after attempting to register to the EPS service and the non-EPS service.